FOOD CONSUMPTION AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF BRESTFEEDING MOTHERS AND INFANTS

Jurnal Gizi dan Pangan, Juli 2007 2(2): 13 - 25

FOOD CONSUMPTION AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS
OF BRESTFEEDING MOTHERS AND INFANTS
(Konsumsi Pangan dan St at us Gi zi Ibu Menyusui dan Bayinya)
Eddy S. Mudjajanto1 and Dadang Sukandar1
ABST RAK

Penel it ian ini ber t uj uan unt uk mengident if ikasi kondi si sosi al ekonomi , konsumsi i bu
menyusui dan bayi, f r ekuensi konsumsi pangan ibu menyusui ser t a menganal isis st at us gizi
ibu menyusui dan bayi. Desain penel it ian ini menggunakan cr oss-sect ional dengan sampel ibu
menyusui . Sampel yang diambi l sebanyak 100 or ang i bu menyusui. Pemi l ihan sampel di l akukan secar a acak ber l api s (st r at i f ied r andom sampl ing). Penel it ian ini dil akukan di dua kecamat an di Kabupat en Cianj ur pada t ahun 2006-2007. Dat a yang dikumpul kan mel iput i
kar akt er ist ik sosial ekonomi kel uar ga ibu menyusui , konsumsi dan f r ekuensi konsumsi pangan
ibu menyusui dan bayi, st at us gizi ibu menyusui ser t a dat a ant r opomet r i bayi yang digunakan
unt uk menent ukan st at us gizi bayi. Dat a kar akt er ist i k sosi al ekonomi kel uar ga i bu menyusui,
konsumsi dan f r ekuensi konsumsi bayi di per ol eh mel al ui wawancar a dengan menggunakan
kuesioner . Dat a ant r opomet r i bayi diper ol eh mel al ui pengukur an yang dil akukan sel ama
penel it ian ber l angsung. Dat a hasil wawancar a dan pengukur an dient r i menggunakan sof t war e excel . Dat a dianal isis dengan SAS (St at ist ical Anal ysis Syst em) dan menggunakan uj i
Regr esi. Hasil penel it ian ini menunj ukkan bahwa konsumsi ener gi dan pr ot ein ibu menyusui
secar a r at a-r at a hanya memenuhi 60% dan 87% dar i angka kecukupan gi zi yang dianj ur kan
(RDA). Konsumsi ener gi dan pr ot ein bayi secar a r at a-r at a sudah memenuhi 100% dan 106%

dar i angka kecukupan gizi yang dianj ur kan (RDA). Pr eval ensi i bu menyusui pada kat egor i t hi n
dan over weight masing-masing sebesar 10% dan 16%. Pada bayi, pr eval ensi dar i under weight ,
st unt ed dan wast ed yai t u sebesar 8. 5%, 45. 7% dan 9.6%.
Keywords : konsumsi, f r ekuensi makan, st at us gizi
INTRODUCTION1
Background

Nation building is basically a governmental effort together with its people to improve
national welfare. A successful development of
a nation is determined by the available human
resources. High-quality of human resources are
characterized by a strong physical body, resilient mind, good health and mastery of science
and technology. One indicator to measure the
quality of human resources is human development index (HDI). Three determinant major
factors of HDI are education, health and economy. The three factors are closely related to
the nutritional status of a community. Malnutrition leads to a reduced quality of human
resources. A lack of nutrition will cause a
slow-down of physical growth, mental development, intelligence, decreased productivity,
increased diseases and deaths (Azwar, 2004).


1

Lecturer on Department of Community Nutrition,
Faculty of Human Ecology, Bogor Agricultural
University (IPB).

Every individual has right to have an acces to adequate, safe and nutritious food so
that they are free from hunger. Sufficient food
consumption in household will have impact on
the nutritional status of the household. Good
nutritional status must be supported by adequate food consumption. Maxwell and
Frankenberger (1992) stated that the nutritional status was affected by food consumption.
The nutritional status of babies influenced by theirs mother. Food consumption of
babies depend so much on breastfeeding and
supplemental feeding. The breast milk is important for nutrients for babies. Breast milk
not only sufficient nutrition for babies but also
other factors such as hormone, antibody and
growt factors (Walker, 1988).
Goals and Obj ectives


The objectives of this study were to
identify social and economic condition, food
consumption and to analyze the nutritional
status of breastfeeding mothers and infants.

13

Jurnal Gizi dan Pangan, Juli 2007 2(2): 13 - 25

METHODS
Design

This study was a cross-sectional design
and conducted in Cianjur Regency at 20062007.
Sampling

The populations studied in this research
were breastfeeding mothers and 100 breastfeeding mothers were taken. Samples were
taken through stratified random sampling.
Cianjur District was selected since there were

variations in nutrition program implemented
and variations in achieving the program objectives (Personal Communication with Staff of
Health Services, Cianjur, February 10, 2006).
The two subdistricts were chosen to increase
heterogeneity of samples, so that the performance of nutrition program was truly represented by the selected samples.

lowances (RDA) (Table 2). As it occurs among
the pregnant women, this low energy consumption of breastfeeding mothers is found in
various researches on breastfeeding mothers.
According to Arisman (2004), if the energy intake by the women is less than 2700 kcal/day,
it indicates that they lack calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin B6 and pholate.
Table 1. Statistics of Nutrients Consumption of
Breastfeeding Mothers
Nutrients

Energy (kcal)
Protein (gram)
Vitamin A (μgRE)
Vitamin C (mg)
Vitamin B1 (mg)

Calcium (mg)
Phosfor (mg)
Iron (mg)

n=100
Mean
Std

1744
52.8
977
57
0.68
746
741
26.3

521
24.2
640

22
0.14
339
347
16.8

Data collection

Data collection consisted of food consumption, food frequency, and nutritional
status. The data was collected through questionnaires, the food consumption was measured using a recall methode of 1 x 24 hour.
Data Analysis and Management

Processing was include editing questionnaires, coding, arrangement of file structure,
data entry, editing files, raising variables,
combining and separating files. Data processing and analysis used Excel and Statistical
Analysis System.
The estimations of means, standard
deviation, minimum and maximum values
made for all quantitative variables. The estimation of proportion has been conducted for
all categorized qualitative and quantitative

variables. The predicted results have been
presented in the forms of tables and diagrams.

RESULTS
Food Consumption of Breastfeeding Mothers

Consumpt ion and Nut rit ion Adequacy
Energy. Energy consumption and nutritional adequacy level are presented at Tables
1 and 2. It can seen from Table 1 that the
average energy consumption of breastfeeding
mothers is 1744 kcal/day; however, this only
fulfills 60 % of the recommended dietary al-

14

Table 2. Statistics of Nutritional Adequacy of
Breastfeeding Mothers
Nutrients

Energy (%)

Protein (%)
Vitamin A (%)
Vitamin C (%)
Vitamin B1 (%)
Calcium (%)
Phosfor (%)
Iron (%)

n=100
Mean
Std

62.4
87.6
117.5
71.8
52.4
82.4
104.6
96.9


18.7
40.3
76.0
28.1
10.9
38.0
48.1
60.2

Protein. Proteins as the developing substances of new tissues play an important role
in all life aspects starting from babies, underfive-year-old children, teenagers, women who
are pregnant and breastfeeding to people who
are in recovery period (Susmaji, 2004). Consumption and protein adequacy level are presented at Tables 1 and 2. From Table 1, it can
be seen that the average protein consumption
of breastfeeding Mothers is 52.8 g/day. As a
whole, this only fulfills 80 % of the recommended protein level. This protein usually
comes from salty fish.
Calcium. Calcium is crucial for the
breast milk. The consumption of calcium of

the women is relatively low i.e. only 746
mg/day, only reaching 80 % of the required
calcium level (Table 2). In fact, calcium con-

Jurnal Gizi dan Pangan, Juli 2007 2(2): 13 - 25

tained in the mothers’ milk is more easily absorbed by babies compared to other food substances so that their calcium need can be supplied by the calcium from the breast milk. Anchovies are frequently consumed by women to
obtain their calcium possibly because they are
available in the markets and more affordable
than other animal protein sources.

Food Consumpt ion Frequency
Frequency of Staple Food. This frequency is presented to see the women’s eating
habits or patterns in the research area. Table
1 shows that one type of cereals and secondary food crops that they frequently consume
every day or 2 times a day is rice. Rice has
been the staple food for Indonesian population. Corn, cassava, taro, sweet potato and
potato are rarely consumed by the women.

Phosphor. The average consumption of

phosphor is 741 mg/day (Table 1), which already fulfills 105 % of the recommended phosphor level (Table 2). This consumption varies
among the women as shown by the standard
deviation of 347 mg/day.

Consuming rice is the common eating
pattern among Indonesian communities. They
have consumed rice since the ancient period,
and this habit lasts until now. There are various factors influencing the communities in
consuming rice such as the flavor, socio culture, nutritional value, availability and affordability (Ariani, 1998).

Iron. From Table 1, it can be seen that
the average iron consumption is 26.3 mg/day.
With the assumption of 10 % iron absorption,
the average adequacy level already reaches
97 %.

Rice is mostly purchased, only a few
grow rice and obtain it from their neighbors.
Cassava and sweet potato are mostly given by
other people.

Vitamin A. The average consumption of
vitamin A for the women is 977 ugRE, fulfilling
117 % of the recommended level. This consumption varies among the women as shown by
standard deviation of 640 mg/day.

Frequency of Animal Food. The types of
foods as animal protein sources such as meat,
fish and egg, which are consumed almost every
day with the frequency of 0.6 times per day or
3 to 4 times per week by the 90 % breastfeeding mothers, include salty fish, eggs, and milk
(Table 4). This might be due to their availability, especially salty fish, eggs of layer chicken,
and milk are easier to obtain than other animal protein sources.

Vitamin C. The average consumption of
vitamin C for the women is 57 mg/day fulfilling 70 % of the recommended level. This consumption is relatively the same among the
women as shown by standard deviation of 22
mg/day. This low consumption may be caused
by a less intake of vegetables and fruits containing a lot of vitamin C.

The reasons for the higher consumption
of eggs of layer chicken than that of eggs of
kampong chicken are that they are cheaper
and more easily available (Erwidodo, Ariani,
Purwoto, 1997). Chicken meat and pindang
(preserved fish) fish are usually consumed
once a week. Other types of animal protein
sources are rarely consumed. These kinds of
foods are mostly purchased, and only a few of
them such as beef/lamb meat and fresh water
fish are given by other people.

Vitamin B1. The average consumption of
vitamin B1 among women is 0.6 mg fulfilling
only 52 % of the recommended level. This consumption is also relatively the same among the
women as shown by standard deviation of 0.14
mg/day. This vitamin is frequently found in
cereal products such as rice, bread, noodle,
etc. (Arisman, 2004).

Table 3. Statistics of Staple Food Consumption Frequency of Breastfeeding Mothers
Kinds of Maj or Food

n

%

Frequency of Consumption
(times per)
Month

Week

Day

Rice (Or yza sat i va)

100

100.0

76.7

17.7

2.5

Corn (Zea mays)

80

80.0

2.4

0.6

0.1

Cassava (Manihot ut i l i ssi ma)

86

86.0

2.4

0.6

0.1

Sweet Potato (Ipomoea bat at as)

80

80.0

1.8

0.4

0.06

Taro (Col ocasi a escul ent a)

34

34.0

0.2

0.04

0.01

Potato (Sol anum t uber osum )

2

2.0

0.2

0.05

0.01

15

Jurnal Gizi dan Pangan, Juli 2007 2(2): 13 - 25

Table 4. Statistics of Animal Food Consumption Frequency of Breastfeeding Mothers
Kinds of Animal Food

n

Frequency of Consumption
(times per)

%

Month

Week

Day

Salty fish

95

95.0

20.1

4.6

0.7

Layer Chicken’s Egg

99

99.0

15.7

3.6

0.5

Milk

66

66.0

14.0

3.2

0.5

Ikan Pi ndang (Preserved fish)

89

89.0

7.6

1.7

0.2

Chicken Meat

99

99.0

6.1

1.4

0.2

Fresh Water Fish

82

82.0

3.6

0.8

0.1

Sea Water Fish

54

54.0

2.3

0.5

0.1

Salty Egg

48

48.0

1.8

0.4

0.1

Kampong Chicken’s Egg

34

34.0

1.7

0.4

0.1

Beef/Goat Meat

88

88.0

1.2

0.3

0.04

Chicken Nugget

12

12.0

0.6

0.1

0.02

Frequency of Legumes. Nuts are vegetable protein sources; nevertheless, they are
not consumed every day by the breastfeeding
mothers (Table 5). Tofu and fermented soybean (t empeh) are consumed 3 to 4 times a
week by 90% breastfeeding mothers because
they are easily obtained and cheap. Most tofu
and soybean products are processed by frying
them or mixing them with vegetables, or
cooking with soybean ketchup. Oncom (traditional Indonesian fermented food), peanut and
mung-bean are consumed once a week. Other
types of legumes are rarely consumed. These
types of foods are 100 % purchased. Almost no
women grow the legumes or obtain them from
other people.
Frequency of Leaf Vegetable. Vegetables are mineral and vitamin sources beneficial

for the growth and development of their
breastfed babies. They provide tasty flavor
and satisfaction because of their interesting
color, flavor and texture (Muchtadi, 2000).
Breastfeeding mothers rarely consume
leaf vegetables (Table 6). Spinach and kangkung are consumed twice a week whereas
sawi , carrot, cabbage and cassava leaf are
consumed once a week. According to Rejeki
(2000), types of vegetables frequently consumed by the households in Indonesia include
spinach, cassava leaf, kangkung and genj er .
Spinach, kangkung, sawi , carrot, cabbage, long bean and mel inj o leaf are mostly
purchased. Cassava and papaya leaves are
sometimes purchased or taken from their gardens or given by their neighbors.

Table 5. Statistics of Legumes Consumption Frequency of Breastfeeding Mothers
Kinds of Nuts

n

%

Frequency of Consumption
(times per)
Month

16

Week

Day

Tofu

98

98.0

16.3

3.7

0.5

Tempeh

97

97.0

14.9

3.5

0.5

Oncom (Traditional Indonesian Fermented Food)

76

76.0

4.1

0.9

0.1

Peanut (Ar achis hypogaea)

76

76.0

3.9

0.9

0.1

Mung-bean (Phaseol us vul gar i s)

81

81.0

4.3

1.0

0.1

Cowpea (Vigna unguicul at a L. )

4

4.0

0.2

0.04

0.01

Jurnal Gizi dan Pangan, Juli 2007 2(2): 13 - 25

Table 6. Statistics of Leaf Vegetables Consumption Frequency of Breastfeeding Mothers
Kinds of Leaf Vegetables

Spinach
Kangkung (Ipomoea r ept ans)
Carrot
Sawi (Br assi ca r ugosa)
Cassava Leaves
Cabbage
Mel i nj o Leaves (Gnet um gnemon)
Papaya Leaves
Lettuce (Lact uca sat i va L. )

Frequency of Fruit Vegetable. Vegetables are dietary fiber sources and contain a
number of antioxidants which have an important role in maintaining body health
(Muchtadi, 2000). These vegetables are rarely
consumed (Table 7). Tomato is consumed 5 to
6 times a week or almost every day. Those
consumed once a week include cucumber,
pumpkin and long bean. In general, the darker
the color of the vegetables, the greater the
contents of iron and vitamin A will be (Harper,
Deaton, & Driskel, 1985). Iron and vitamin A
are required by the breastfeeding mothers and
their babies to obtain body immunity and eye
health.

Fruit vegetables especially pumpkin,
tomato, cucumber, eggplant and baby jackfruit and papaya are mostly purchased by the
women (see Appendix 3). There are 5 to 10 %
respondents stating that baby jackfruit and
papaya are given by other people.
Frequency of Fruit. Fruits are also
sources of vitamins and minerals; however,
they are not consumed every day by the
breastfeeding mothers (Table 8). Fruits consumed 2 to 3 times per week include orange

n

%

97
98
89
82
77
83
71
40
36

97.0
98.0
89.0
82.0
77.0
83.0
71.0
40.0
36.0

Frequency of Consumption
(times per)
Month
Week
Day

10.4
9.8
7.8
5.9
5.8
5.2
3.4
2.8
2.4

2.4
2.3
1.8
1.4
1.3
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.6

0.3
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1

and banana because they are abundantly
available (not seasonal fruits) and their prices
are affordable. Papaya and guava are consumed only once a week
Fruits can be obtained by purchasing or
by taking them from their own gardens or getting them from other people. Jackfruit and
guava are mostly obtained from other people.
Table 8. Statistics of Fruits Consumption Frequency of Breastfeeding Mothers
Kinds of Fruits

n

Frequency of
Consumption
(times per)

%

Month Week

Orange
Banana
Papaya
Guava
Apple
Mango
Pineapple
Jackfruit
Hairyfruit

95
91
86
72
65
78
30
57
90

95.0
91.0
86.0
72.0
65.0
78.0
30.0
57.0
90.0

13.5
12.3
6.5
3.1
2.0
1.7
0.9
1.0
0.1

3.1
2.8
1.5
0.7
0.5
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.03

Day

0.45
0.4
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.03
0.03
0.0

Table 7. Statistics of Fruit Vegetables Consumption Frequency of Breastfeeding Mothers
Kinds of Fruit Vegetables

n

%

98
80
86

98.0
80.0
86.0

85
62
35
42

85.0
62.0
35.0
42.0

Frequency of Consumption
(times per)
Month

Tomato
Cucumber
Pumpkin (Legenar ia l eucant ha)
Long-bean (Caj anus caj an)
Eggplant
Baby papaya
Baby jackfruit

25.2
7.9
6.6
4.8
2.6
1.5
1.1

Week

5.8
1.8
1.5
1.1
0.6
0.4
0.3

Day

0.8
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.05
0.04

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Jurnal Gizi dan Pangan, Juli 2007 2(2): 13 - 25

Frequency of Snack Foods. The snack
foods generally contain carbohydrates; however, breastfeeding mothers do not consume
them every day (Table 9). Fried snacks and
fried banana are frequently consumed i.e. 3 to
4 times per week. Meatball and bakwan are
consumed twice a week. Snack foods are generally consumed only as supplementary foods
and do not contain sufficient nutritional value.
Such snacks as meatball, si omay, fried banana,
chicken noodle, and other fried snacks are
usually purchased from the small shops or from
the traveling salesmen.

11 months old. The consumption and energy
adequacy level among babies are presented at
Tables 11 and 12.
Table 11. Statistics of Nutrients Consumption
of Breastfed Babies
n=100
Mean
Std
667
506
14.5
12.2
496
413
38
47.0
0.2
0.16
388
413
613
329
4.9
8.7

Nutrients
Energy (kkal)
Protein (gram)
Vitamin A (μgRE)
Vitamin C (mg)
Vitamin B1 (mg)
Calcium (mg)
Phosfor (mg)
Iron (mg)

Frequency of Miscellaneous Foods. The
miscellaneous foods consumed 5 to 7 times per
week by the breastfeeding mothers include
sugar, tea, and monosodium glutamate (MSG)
(see Table 10). Coffee and crackers are consumed 4 times a week whereas soybean
ketchup and sauce are consumed 1 to 3 times
per week. As the snacks, these foods are usually purchased by the women.

Table 12. Statistics of Nutritional Adequacy of
Breastfed Babies
n=100
Mean
Std
100.9
71.8
106.8
86.1
141.6
118.2
118.5
142.1
59.0
43.3
113.5
115.4
279.3
148.6
122.6
207.0

Nutrients
Energy (%)
Protein (%)
Vitamin A (%)
Vitamin C (%)
Vitamin B1 (%)
Calcium (%)
Phosfor (%)
Iron (%)

Consumpt ion and Nut rit ional Adequacy of
Babies
Energy. The first and major food of babies is their mothers’ breast milk containing
complete nutrition as well as anti-infection
substance for them. Nutrition consumption
among babies in this research is exclusively
from their mothers because they are only 0 to

Table 9. Statistics of Snack Foods Consumption Frequency of Breastfeeding Mothers
Kinds of Snacks

n

%

94
87
75
94
61
57

94.0
87.0
75.0
94.0
61.0
57.0

Frequency of Consumption
(times per)
Month

Fried food
Fried Banana
Bakwan (Fried Vegetables)
Meatball
Si omay (Kind of Chinese Foods)

Chicken Noodle

Week

19.3
14.4
10.4
9.1
3.1
2.4

Day

4. 5
3.3
2.4
2.1
0.7
0.6

0.6
0.5
0.3
0.3
0.1
0.1

Table 10. Statistics of Miscellaneous Foods Consumption Frequency of Breastfeeding Mothers
Kinds of Miscellaneous Food

Sugar
Tea
Coffee
Sauce
Ker upuk (Crackers)
Vetsin/MSG
Soybean Ketchup

18

n

%

98
85
73
50
93
96
87

98.0
85.0
73.0
50.0
93.0
96.0
87.0

Frequency of Consumption
(times per)
Month
Week
Day

24.0
21.6
18.0
5.5
18.5
28.4
12.6

5.5
5.0
4.2
1.3
4.3
6.6
2.9

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.2
0.6
0.9
0.4

Jurnal Gizi dan Pangan, Juli 2007 2(2): 13 - 25

The sufficient energy requirement of one
year for babies varies according to their age
and weight. In general, for their first six
month of life, they require 115 -120 kcal/day;
however, this requirement will be less, i.e.
around 105 to 110 Kcal/day when they are
over 6 months old (Arisman, 2004). The average energy consumption is 667 Kcal/day where
this has reached 100 % of the recommend energy level (RDA) (Table 12).

is 4.9 g/day. With the assumption of 15 % iron
absorption, the adequacy level of iron for babies has exceeded the recommended level.
Vitamin A. In general, the average consumption of vitamin A is 496 ugRE or has
reached 114 % of the recommended vitamin A
level. The consumption relatively varies as
shown by the standard deviation of 413 mg.
Vitamin C. In general, the average consumption of vitamin C is 38 mg and has exceeded the recommended vitamin C level.

Protein. The biological value of mothers’ breast milk is higher than other proteins.
Based on weight, a baby’s requirement of protein is 2.3 g/kg/day and 2 g/kg/day at the age
of less than 6 months and over six months respectively (Arisman, 2004).

Vitamin B1. As a whole, the average
vitamin B1 consumption of the infants is 0.20
mg or only fulfills 59% of the recommended
vitamin B1 level. The consumption is relatively
the same as shown by the standard deviation
of 0.16 mg.

From Table 11 and 12, it can be seen
that the average consumption of protein is
14.5 g/day, and this has fulfilled 106% of the
recommended protein level.

Nutritional Status of Breastfeeding Mothers
and Infants

Calcium. Calcium is very crucial for babies’ growth especially for bone and tooth
formation. The consumption is relatively sufficient, i.e. 388 mg/day, and this has met 113 %
of the recommended calcium level (Table 12).

Nut rit ional St at us of Breast feeding Mot hers

The nutritional status of breastfeeding
mothers is determined by using the body mass
index (BMI), which is then classified according
to WHO categories (1995). Based on the data
presented in Figure 1 and Table 13, the
prevalence of breastfeeding mothers in the
thin category is 10%. The low BMI is significantly related to the quantity and quality of
breast milk and the problem of infant’s
growth. The breastfeeding mothers also suffer
from over nutrition. The prevalence of overweight (BMI>25) breastfeeding mothers is 16%.

Phosphor. Phosphor is also crucial for
the physical growth of babies. As a whole, the
consumption of phosphor is 613 mg/day, and
this has met 279 % of the recommended phosphor level.
Iron. Consumption and iron (Fe) adequacy level of the infants are presented at
Table 11 and 3.22. From Table 11, it can be
seen that the average consumption of protein

80

60

74

% 40

20
16

10

0

< 18.5

18.5-25

> 25

Figure 1. BMI Category of Breastfeeding Mother

19

Jurnal Gizi dan Pangan, Juli 2007 2(2): 13 - 25

Table 13. Distribution of Breastfeeding Mothers based on IMT Category
IMT Category

Thin
Normal
Overweight

IMT
Value

n

%

< 18.5
18.5-25
>25

10
74
16

10.0
74.0
16.0

Nut rit ional St at us of Infant s
Anthropometric Characteristics. These
characteristics, consisting of age, body weight,
and height, are presented in Table 14. The
average age of infants in the research location
on the whole is 5.83.1 months, with the lowest of 1 month and the highest of 11 months.
On the whole, the average bodyweight of infants is 6.81.5 kg, with the lowest weight of
3.5 kg and the highest weight of 10.0 kg. The
average body length of infants as a whole is
62.27.0 cm, the lowest length of 45.5 cm and
the highest of 80.0 cm.

Table 14. Statistics of Breastfed Infants’ Anthropometric
Characteristics

Age (month)
Weight (kg)
Height (cm)

Mean

5.8
6.8
62.2

Std

3.1
1.5
7.0

Min

1.0
3.5
45.5

Max

11.0
10.0
80.0

Weight for Age (W/ A) . The prevalence
of malnutrition is determined based on the
number of children whose anthropometric index is below -2 SD (Jahari, 2002). The weight

for age (W/A) shows a generally hindered
growth, but less specific for identifying a
chronic and acute malnutrition problem.
Based on the resulted calculation of Z-score of
W/A for infants with the threshold point of  2SD for underweight, the underweight prevalence is found to be 8.5% (Table 15), including
the prevalence of sever e under wei ght (Z-score